Daily Dothttp://www.dailydot.com/Daily Dot Articleen-usWed, 23 Nov 2011 18:17:38 +0000Beating video has consequences for Texas judge William Adams, online and offlinehttp://www.dailydot.com/society/judge-william-adams-beating-video-suspended/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/0d/fd/0dfd3766408839abef95bff96c0cd7b3.jpg'></p><p>
A video that depicted <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/society/hillary-adams-judge-william-adams-video-response/">Judge William Adams beating his daughter Hillary</a> was painful to watch. The consequences for the judge&rsquo;s career will be even more painful.</p>
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The Texas Supreme Court <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/23/justice/texas-beating-video/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn">suspended Judge Adams</a> from his duties today.</p>
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Although the court did not make the reason for the suspension public, it doesn&rsquo;t take much inference to link it to the beating incident. After Hillary Adams <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/news/this-week-on-reddit-11042011/">posted the video on Reddit</a>, it prompted <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/society/hillary-adams-judge-william-adams-video-response/">widespread outrage</a>, including <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/news/judge-william-adams-beating-daughter-video/">vigilante justice</a> from 4chan&rsquo;s /b/ board.</p>
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Even if Adams&rsquo; colleagues weren&rsquo;t offended by his private behavior, they may well have felt forced to act by the disruption caused by online vigilantes to the court&rsquo;s operations.</p>
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Judge Adams <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/242171/20111102/judge-william-adams.htm">told the International Business Times</a> that the beating &ldquo;not as bad as it looks,&rdquo; but found little sympathy.</p>
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Internet users were calling for his removal almost immediately after the video went public. When the Daily Dot previously wrote about the video, <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/society/hillary-adams-judge-william-adams-video-response/">we reported</a> that a Facebook page called <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dont-Re-Elect-Judge-William-Adams/217089511694481">Don&#39;t Re-Elect Judge William Adams</a> had 9,000 supporters. That number has now grown to 36,500.</p>
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That page has filled up with messages expressing outrage, as well as humorous image macros mocking Adams.</p>
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The video itself has now been viewed <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl9y3SIPt7o&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;t=58s&amp;oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FWTF%2Ftop%2F%3Fsort%3Dtop%26t%3Dweek">6 million times</a>.</p>
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Hillary Adams <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/shoeofallcosmos/status/139227253904117760">tweeted today</a> that she&rsquo;s feeling positive about the suspension.</p>
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&ldquo;Happy... I feel more content with myself now,&rdquo; she wrote.</p>
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Before the news of her father&rsquo;s suspension broke, she also <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/shoeofallcosmos/status/139154082828001280">wrote</a>:</p>
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&ldquo;I keep wanting to say something about how incredible and deep the Internet is, but it would be so cheesy.&rdquo;</p>
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Image via <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dont-Re-Elect-Judge-William-Adams/217089511694481">Don&#39;t Re-Elect Judge William Adams</a></p>
lauren.rae.orsini@gmail.com (Lauren Rae Orsini)Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:17:38 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/society/judge-william-adams-beating-video-suspended/SocietyFacebook